Recently I was privileged to visit the African country of Mozambique for the first time. I flew from London to Johannesburg over night and preached at the Cornerstone Church there Sunday morning and Doxa Deo in Pretoria Sunday night. I then flew into Pemba, Mozambique where I was greeted by Rolland and Heidi Baker plus a group of Mozambican children (see the photo).

Rolland and Heidi have been in Mozambique for twenty-one years. They run what is called Iris Global. They have founded thousands of churches. In Pemba, they feed 5,000 poor people daily, educate 3,500 daily (grades 1 to 12), train 200 Mozambique people for ministry daily, and in Harvest School of Mission train international students who come to learn how to minister to and pray for people in the bush. They live by faith day by day and sometimes wonder if there will be food for the day. There is a least one story of God multiplying food. A dinner was prepared for only twelve people. Eighty people showed up – hungry! Without preparing extra food (which they did not have) everyone was filled. Ninety-eight percent of the converts in Mozambique are ex-Muslims, the rest being former animists. While there I spoke to 300 young people from 29 countries. I also met with some 30 people (mostly young – in their 20s and 30s) who are on the staff. This time was in a sense the highlight of my visit as I listened to their testimonies. A young lady from northwest Tennessee, who happened to be sitting next to me on my left, told me that while in the bush a few days before she prayed for a mute child who began to speak for the first time (to the amazement of the mother who never heard a sound come from the child). The Tennessee girl afterwards saw another woman behind a mud hurt – distressed in great consternation and grief. She went to see what was wrong. It turned out this woman was sobbing because her four-year old boy had died of malaria some two hours before. They were wrapping the child in sheets, waiting for an imam to arrive to bury the child. The Tennessee girl began praying for the dead child. The child was stiff from rigor mortis. After several minutes of praying she noticed the child’s fingers, then hands, beginning to move, then the arms. The child was raised from the dead before her eyes. When the Tennessee girl went to the mud hut the next day she saw the little boy running around. Those who witnessed this came to Christ. This is how most of Heidi and Rolland’s converts are saved; they see the miracles and instantly abandon their false teaching. A young man who was a graduate in theology from Durham, England, sitting next to me on my right, told me he prayed for three different blind people who were healed before his eyes. He added that they for some reason have almost a complete success rate with deaf people being healed. He implied that they are always glad to see a deaf person because they know they will be healed.

I felt cheated that I could not go to the bush while there. They refer to the bush and the “bush bush” – which means it is very remote. This is where many miracles take place. I could only be there for three days – or wait until next year (my schedule is completely filled). So I saw no miracles first hand. But there is no doubt in my mind that these young people were not making up these stories: mute people speaking, Muslims coming to Christ, witch doctors coming to Jesus, blind and deaf people being healed. I vowed to go to the bush if I have the opportunity to return.

The Iris Ministries board met while I was there. I was privileged to speak to them for over an hour on my “life verse” (John 5:44). I also gave my testimony and related how I came to believe in the doctrines of sovereign grace. Rolland, who has an earned doctrine in theology (as does Heidi) was particularly gratified by what I said. We are on the same page theologically. I also took questions and did my best to answer them honestly. The discussion somehow led to the subject of open theism – a very dangerous teaching that many prominent Charismatics and Pentecostals are taking on board. While I was there I cautioned everyone as lovingly and firmly as I could. All seemed deeply appreciative that I was there for this time. They want me to return, but I want to go back only if I can go to the bush!

I first met Rolland and Heidi on a Caribbean cruise some ten years ago along with Carol and John Arnott who invited me to do the Bible talks on the ship. Heidi came to all my talks, always sitting on the front row, and I got to know her a bit. She told me of her miraculous healing at Toronto and how being prayed for at Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship changed her life. A New York City church that had supported her dropped her for going to Toronto. And yet her ministry never really took off until after Toronto. She and Rolland live completely by faith and are now supported by people from all over the world. If you ask me, this is the best vindication of the “Toronto Blessing” I have come across

Like many Evangelicals in America, I admire you greatly. We believe you have come to where you are for “such a time as this”, as Mordecai said to Esther. I have listened to many of your speeches, recalling what you said to the Cornerstone Church in San Antonio years ago and, more recently, to the United Nations. You always speak with irresistible logic, eloquence and passion. For example:

For in every generation, there were those who rose up to destroy our people.
In antiquity, we faced destruction from the ancient empires of Babylon and Rome.
In the Middle Ages, we faced inquisition and expulsion.
In modern times, we faced pogroms and the Holocaust.
Yet the Jewish people persevered.
I stand here today representing Israel, a country 67 years young, but a nation-state of a people nearly 4,000 years old.
Those seemingly invincible empires have long gone.
But Israel lives.
The people of Israel live.
Even in our darkest hours, we never gave up hope of rebuilding our eternal capital Jerusalem.

I humbly and lovingly ask you to consider what I say below, even if you have heard this 1,000 times.

I fear that many of my American friends – and yours – are not saying to you what needs to be said. I call it the Elephant in the Room when it comes to the hope of Israel.

Do forgive me for quoting from the Christian Bible: the Apostle Paul says in Romans 11 says that the veil on Israel will be lifted if Israel turns to the Lord. The promise is conditional on Israel turning from their unbelief:

“God is both kind and severe. He is severe to those who disobeyed, but kind to you [Gentiles] if you continue to trust his kindness. . . And if the people of Israel turn from their unbelief, they will be grafted in again, for God has the power to graft them back into the [olive] tree” (Romans 11:22-23 – New Living Translation).

The promise still remains: when Israel turns to the Lord, the veil will be taken away.
Jeremiah was accused of treason when he prophesied that Jerusalem would be taken. The people of Israel said “not possible”. But Jeremiah was right. In much the same way there are those who believe that it is not possible for Israel to be finally destroyed. I pray this does not happen, but, Prime Minister, it could happen.

In a word: until the nation of Israel repents over their rejection of Jesus Christ as Messiah and Savior, the situation for Israel will not get better. The only solution: for Israel to accept Jesus Christ as the Son of God and the fulfillment of the ancient promises concerning Israel’s Messiah. When this is done, God will fight for you as He did with ancient Israel.

I plan to be in Israel in May 2016 and would welcome the opportunity to meet with you face to face for half an hour.

“Lord, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, O LORD. Renew them in our day, in our time make them known; in wrath remember mercy” – Habakkuk 3:2.

My deepest ambition for 2016 is to help make the God of the Bible famous. He is famous in a sense, it is true; He is the most hated person on the planet. When the Beatles made the claim in the 1960s that they were “more popular than Jesus” they were no doubt correct. When the Midnight Cry comes things will change. Not that all humankind will adore the true God. But they will certainly know about Him. Coming ahead is the combination of unprecedented wrath from God joined by amazing mercy. The fear of the Lord is going to return to the church and also to the world.

As we welcome the New Year in, I think that I am possibly the most sobered of any time in recent years. Generally, the situation in the entire world has never looked so dire. The outlook has never been so bleak. But should this surprise us? If we are in the very last days – as I have been claiming for a long time, nothing should surprise us.

Particularly, this has been a sobering year for me. Two very close friends have been taken to Heaven. First, John Paul Jackson, and, second, Dr. Billy T. Ball. The death of Billy is no surprise; he was 88. The death of John Paul at 65 is something I am still struggling to come to terms with. What is interesting to me is that these two men had in common an unusual prophetic gift. But from two angles. John Paul based a lot of his prophecies on what I would call the rhema word, Billy Ball was entirely a logos word man. Many of their prophecies coalesced but both agreed on the premise that the Midnight Cry of Matthew 25:6 precedes the actual Second Coming of Jesus by a period of time during which the church is awakened which in turn will precipitate a revival that spreads around the entire world.

But there were two other things John Paul and Billy Ball had in common: they each believed they would be major figures on the national, if not world, scene in the last days. Depending how you define “major”, I would have thought that both of these men died feeling unfulfilled. They were used of God in their day, yes, but not to the extent they hoped for.

I am having to come to terms with how good, honorable and respectable men could get it so wrong when it came to their own expectations. And yet the great Jonathan Edwards sincerely thought that what he was witnessing in his day was precisely what we now call “last day ministries”.

I am on record for believing that the Midnight Cry – not the Second Coming – will take place while I am alive. We will certainly see!

I will have two books coming out in 2016: Pigeon Religion – which purports to show the counterfeit vis-à-vis the genuine Holy Spirit; and The Midnight Cry – my interpretation of the Parable of the Ten Virgins (Matt.25:1-13).

I am extremely grateful to God for good health and stamina. 2015 has by far been the busiest and most challenging year of my life. 2016 will likely be equal to this, such beginning with a ministry for the third year in a row at Kensington Temple, London (late January to early July). But I have promised Louise I will cut down a lot.

God bless you all. I would be so honored if you would put us on your prayer list. Will you? Louise, TR, Annette, Toby and Timothy and Melissa and Rex join me in wishing you a wonderful year to come.

“In wrath remember mercy”.

Warmest greetings.

R T Psalm 84:11*

* For some reason I began using a new verse alongside my name, having used Romans 8:28 for so long.

This is the most important Blog I have written in many years. I pray with all my heart that this will be read and spread to ordinary Christians all over the world. I cannot come close in emphasizing how important this particular Blog is.

A melancholy fact: most Christians do not have a Bible reading plan. Most Christians do not read their Bibles regularly. Some Christians do not read their Bibles very much at all. And…some church leaders do not read their Bibles. I happen to know more than I care to reveal – how many famous Christians and leaders have not read the Bible through at all!

I am aiming this Blog at ordinary Christians. My followers are not clergymen or church leaders but laymen – ordinary Christians.

Mrs. Martyn Lloyd-Jones made a gripping observation about C. S. Lewis’ book Screwtape Letters, a brilliant satire that includes among other things how the devil tempts new Christians. She lamented that one huge thing Lewis left out – that should have been put in – was how the devil wants to keep people from reading their Bibles. I do agree; it would have been so helpful had Lewis put that in.

I am convinced that the devil will do anything to keep people from reading their Bibles.

Has the devil succeeded with you? How much do you read your Bible?

This Blog was inspired by a recent trauma I had in Bimini, Bahamas. Perhaps trauma is too strong a word. But what happened was this. I took a brief vacation to do some bonefishing – my only vacation for 2015. When I turned to read my Bible, lo and behold, I had not packed my Bible or diary (which includes my prayer list)! I was sobered. I never leave home without my Bible, but somehow I let that happen. The thought of not getting to read my Bible for three or four days was almost horrifying. I thought: what do people do who don’t have their Bibles?

Then I remembered something I heard only a few days ago when I was in Singapore. That there is a church where people are not encouraged to read their Bibles – at home or at church – but only wait for God to give a “revelation”. Like a vision. Or rhema word of knowledge. That’s it. The thought of reading the Bible or hearing an expository sermon does not come on to their radar screen! I was flabbergasted when I heard that.

Do listen to me dear reader. Once we give up the conviction that the Bible is the only infallible Word of God, we open ourselves to a strange world out there that may include the Holy Spirit but also if not equally the realm of the demonic. Do not be surprised: Satan “masquerades” as an angel of light (2 Cor.11:14). The devil will work overtime to keeping Christians from reading the Bible. He would love you to close it and just wait on God.

Whereas the Bible was not given to replace the miraculous or even revelation, as Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones used to say, but “to correct abuses”, too many people don’t know their Bibles well enough to know what the Word of God says. And what the abuses might be. The Bible is the Final and Ultimate Revelation of Truth; no vision, word of knowledge or insight will ever – ever – contradict what the Bible has said. The first test of any vision or prophetic word is to run it by Scripture. If it is not upheld by the infallible Word of God, reject it – no matter how much you may respect the person who gives you a word.

I am grateful in particular for two things in my life. First, my parents taught me to read my Bible daily. This is what they did. The thought of not reading at least a chapter a day in the Bible was out of the question. Second, Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones – my chief mentor – introduced me to Robert Murray M’Cheyne’s Bible Reading plan many years ago. As a consequence I think I can say I have read the entire Bible through some forty times and the New Testament eighty times. A Bible Reading Plan “keeps you in the Word”, Dr. Lloyd-Jones used to say to me.

Many preachers only consult their Bibles when they need a sermon. I persuaded a very close friend – a high profile prophetically gifted man – to start reading his Bible. Two years ago he began a plan and read the Bible through for the first time in his life! He could not thank me enough. He was (amazingly) amazed over how much it meant to him!

Why had he not been doing this sooner? You tell me.

How much do you read your Bible?

I urge you to go on line and find a One Year Bible Reading Plan, one that will help you to read the Bible through in a year. I urge you to begin today in this plan and never, never, never, never stop it.

The very thought that the devil does not want you to do this should galvanize every true Christian to want to fall on their knees – to pray more and read the Bible more.

Here’s the thing. Read the Bible – logos, Holy Scripture – and you will be thrilled to discover how often God gives you a rhema word. A rhema word basically means the unfolding of God’s secret will, when He speaks directly to you. God does this. But I can predict: chase after a rhema word all the time and you will probably receive nothing from God; chase after Holy Scripture and He will give you rhema words whenever you need such.

I have said little in this Blog about personal prayer time. Please see my book Did You Think to Pray? In it I stress time with God. Children spell love T I M E. How much time do you spend in prayer? I recommend thirty minutes a day for every layman; sixty minutes a day (minimum) for every church leader. The average church leader in Britain and the USA spends four minutes a day in quiet time. And you wonder why the church is powerless?

Please read your Bible through this year. The Bible is the Holy Spirit’s greatest product. He wrote it (2 Tim.3:15; 2 Peter 1:21). If you want to get on good terms with the Holy Spirit, then read His Word!

One can go through Seminary (preparing for the ministry) nowadays and never get to know their Bibles. They read about the Bible. Many young people going into the ministry have not read their Bibles through and then they read only about the Bible without the foggiest idea what the Bible says.

One very, very famous Christian said that if he had his life to live over he would spend more time reading the Bible than reading books about the Bible.

It is my heart-felt cry to God that many people will read this Blog and take it seriously. You will never be sorry. Also, you will never be the same again.

On October 31st 1955 I had the greatest spiritual experience of my life. Driving in my car from Palmer, Tennessee (where I was pastor) to Trevecca Nazarene College in Nashville (where I was a student) I had what I might call a “Damascus Road” experience. As I drove there appeared the Lord Jesus Christ at my right – interceding for me to the Father. I never felt so loved. But I could not tell what Jesus was saying, only that He was putting His whole authority on the line with the Father in my behalf. I burst into tears as I drove – on old U. S. 41 between Monteagle and Manchester, Tennessee.

Two Scriptures had come to my mind as I was praying: 1 Peter 5:7 (“Casting all your care upon him, for he careth for you”) and Matthew 11:30 (“My yoke is easy, and my burden is light”). Before the vision of Jesus appeared I was laboring in prayer, asking the Lord to enable me to cast all my care upon Him so I could say that my yoke was “easy”. I had felt a deep burden on me to pray. Normally I would play the radio all the way on a trip from Palmer to Nashville but that morning I wanted only to pray.

The next thing I remember – over an hour later – was hearing Jesus say clearly to the Father, “He wants it”. The Father replied, “He can have it”. In that very moment there came a peace into my heart – with warmth – that is impossible to explain. It was not merely the absence of anxiety but the presence of rest in my soul. A moment later I saw the face of Jesus looking at me. This lasted for less than a minute. Then I was at Trevecca and went to my first class at 8:00 am.

What happened to me that day? What was “it”? I heard Jesus say, “He wants it” and the reply came back, “He can have it?” Over the last sixty years I have asked what was – what is – “it”?

I have come up with several answers: peace – that’s for sure. The “it” was peace. I immediately connected it at the time to the “rest” described in Hebrews 4:9-10. The “it” was certainly “full assurance” (Gr. plerophoria) of my salvation. I knew beyond any doubt that I was eternally saved. The “it” was the earnest of my inheritance. It was surely the baptism of the Holy Spirit (although I did not speak in tongues at that time). When I get to Heaven I will inquire further what “it” is!

The calm peaceful presence in my heart transformed me. Things did not bother me. What people said about me had minimal effect on me. I did not get easily upset. The person of Jesus was so real to me.

A month later I had my first vision. Among other things, it indicated I would have a wide ministry but outside my old denomination. Three months later as I was driving from Kentucky into the Tennessee border I felt a well inside that wanted to come out; the only way to let it out was to utter unintelligible sounds. I did it. I kept this to myself; speaking in tongues is more offensive to Nazarenes than Calvinism. I told only two or three people over the following twenty years, one of whom was Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones. He affirmed to me that what happened was real.

But there was more. My theology changed immediately after that experience of October 31, 1955. I knew I could not lose my salvation. Before the day was over I was acutely aware of the sovereignty of God. This led me to believe in predestination. For a while I wondered if I was the first since the Apostle Paul to experience anything like this!

Seeing Jesus at the right hand of God made me see how real the resurrection of Jesus was. I was amazed to discover that He really is a man. I was attracted to the verse that there is one mediator between God and men, “the man Christ Jesus” (1 Tim.2:5). One of the most overwhelming realizations was that Jesus is my elder brother. Also, his death on the cross became real. Furthermore, the literalness of the Second Coming was real. The Bible began to speak to me as it never had. I saw things in the Scriptures I had never seen before. I was attracted to Romans 9:15, “I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious”.

“You are going off into Calvinism”, my professor Dr. W. M. Greathouse said to me. And what is that? “We don’t believe that”, he said. I replied, Then we are wrong”.

I have never put down in writing (until today) a summary of doctrinal convictions that immediately followed this experience. I emphasize: what immediately followed – as in hours and days – not what I came to embrace many years later (which would build on what I state below):

The utter reality of the Second Coming: so real as if it already happened.

A sense of sin inside, although I was possibly as sinless as one could be.

I remained a Nazarene a good while, but I eventually left my old denomination. I am grateful for my background. “That is what has saved you”, Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones used to say to me. By that he meant that my Nazarene background (he seemed to know a lot about it) is what preserved me from being a cold “perfectly orthodox, perfectly useless” Reformed minister. Those are his words.

However, I’m afraid Nazarenes today are quite different from the days in which I was influenced by them. A few days ago I had lunch with several Trevecca professors (retired). Not one of them appeared to believe that the sun standing still in Joshua’s day was literally true. One of them unashamedly espouses “open theism” – the notion that God does not know the end from the beginning; indeed, God does not know the future and looks to us for wisdom what to do next! I left that lunch sobered. But thankful.

It is the experience of October 31, 1955 that has preserved me from liberalism. I think I was the only one at the table that day who believes in the infallibility of the Bible. Some orthodox people poke fun at the idea that “a man with an experience is never at the mercy of a man with an argument”. Cold, dead orthodoxy often depends on argument or reason to support Scripture. But I have both – thanks to the Holy Spirit unveiling truth in the Word of God. I can defend what I believe; I would go to the stake for what I believe. This is why we need the Word and the Spirit together.

Thank you, Lord, for what You did for me sixty years ago. I hate to think what I would have become without Your coming to me as you did. I might well have become a liberal while staying in my old denomination.

How old does one have to be in order to have a true conversion to Jesus Christ? Who knows for sure? Jonathan Edwards was four years old when he was converted. I myself was six and three-fourths (I was converted on April 5, 1942 and my seventh birthday was the following July 13th). I was baptized when I was ten.

I write this blog because today is a happy day in our family. Our grandson Toby came to the Lord today – almost the same age as I was; he will be seven next February.

This was totally unexpected. I was preaching my sermon “Total Forgiveness” at a church in Gallatin, Tennessee. During the sermon I took time out to explain the Gospel and – although I had no plans to do this – I decided spontaneously to invite people to stand if they prayed the “sinners prayer” which I had led them in:

Lord Jesus Christ, I need you. I want you. I am sorry for my sins. Wash my sins away by Your blood. I welcome Your Holy Spirit into my heart. As best as I know how, I give you my life. Amen.

Seated on the front row, Toby turned his grandmother Louise and said, “Grandma, I just prayed that prayer. I felt something come all over me inside. Can I stand too?” She said, “Of course you can”. He apparently thought this was only for older people. When I saw him standing I was overjoyed. I had no idea how carefully he was listening to me. It did not cross my mind that he would do that. After he sat down he asked his grandmother, “What just happened to me, Grandma?” She said, “You have just become a Christian”. His face lit up. “I have heard that word before and now I know what it means”, he said. He kept rubbing his chest with a big smile. I called Toby to the platform. I mentioned that the day before – October 3rd – was his brother Timothy’s third birthday, but today – October 4th – is Toby’s spiritual birthday.

When I was pastor of the Calvary Baptist Church in Lower Heyford, Oxfordshire, England, our son T. R. walked forward at the age of nine. I had not noticed that he walked forward during the invitation. I was about to close the service when someone shouted out, “Look who just walked forward!” I looked and there was T. R. looking up at me, smiling. I baptized him in the Headington Baptist Church in Oxford a few weeks later – in the winter of 1976. I distinctly remember how cold the water was; the temperature must have been barely above freezing! Our daughter Melissa was converted years later aged eleven – in May 1982 under the preaching of Arthur Blessitt – at Westminster Chapel. I baptized her in a much warmer baptistry at the Chapel several months later.

I will never forget a story a couple at Westminster Chapel told me. Many years before their son at the age of ten asked to be baptized. They said to him, “You’re too young”, and refused to honor his request. As the young man grew older he stopped going to church. Years and years later he was out in the world and quite unreachable. His mother and dad severely, bitterly regretted their decision to discourage their son from being baptized. I am not saying that their decision is the cause of him deserting the church. I am only saying that his parents would give a thousand worlds had they not discouraged him at that time.

“Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the heaven belongs to such as these”, said Jesus (Matt.19:14).

I would never push for child conversions. Their minds are too easily influenced; I would not trust a child’s conversion who was put under pressure by a parent or preacher. That said, I would never discourage a child from making a profession of faith if on their own without any prompting they sought the Lord.

This week I received a letter from a prisoner. He wrote to tell me that I had baptized him at my former church in Florida many years before. As best as I can figure out, he would have been around ten years old. He is now in prison and will be there for a while. He wanted me to know that God has been dealing with him in the last year or so and he earnestly wanted me to help him.

Question: was this young man converted many years ago when he was a child – or was it a false profession? You tell me. There are at least two possibilities. First, he may not been truly converted or he would have persevered in faith and never have gone to prison. Or, second, he was truly converted but somehow got off the rails and landed in huge trouble. That could happen to any true Christian. It could be that the Hound of Heaven had been pursuing this man over the years and finally brought him back to the Lord.

We have a gracious God.

I have been praying for our grandsons Toby and Timothy daily since they were born. My prayer has been that these boys would grow up to be “men after God’s own heart”. I have good reason to believe that God has begun to answer that prayer.

I have had four main mentors in my life: Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Billy T. Ball, N. Burnett Magruder and Rolfe Barnard.

Rolfe Barnard died in 1968 at the age of 67. He was a no-nonsense, rugged, fearless, moderately Calvinist Baptist evangelist from Winston-Salem, North Carolina. He was one of a kind – either very, very loved or very, very hated. I never met anybody like him before or since.

Rolfe had an unusual sermon called “The Man who was Known in Hell”, based on the account of some Jews who were playing games with the demonic. They would say, “In the name of Jesus, whom Paul preaches, I command you to come out”. One day an evil spirit answered them: “Jesus I know, and I know about Paul, but who are you?” (Acts 19:15).

The gist of Rolfe’s sermon was: “Paul was known in Hell; I want to be known in Hell”. The devil knew who Jesus was; the devil knew who Paul was. “I want the devil to be aware of me”, said Rolfe.

There are three Greek words translated Hell in most versions: tartarus (2 Peter 2:4), hades (the grave) or gehenna (hell fire). What Rolfe meant by “hell” in this case would be tartarus, the realm of fallen angels. Rolfe wanted the devil to know who he was, that is, to be a threat to the devil.

I have thought about that sermon a lot over the last fifty years but more so in recent years. I have decided that if I had the choice I’d rather be known in Hell than on this earth.

Why? For the same reason that Jesus and Paul were known in Hell. This meant that Jesus and Paul were a threat to Satan’s interests. Jesus and Paul had a reputation in Hell. They were feared. Those who cast out demons in Acts 19 were not known in Hell. I wonder if others since who are experts in casting out demons are known in Hell? I wonder if famous preachers are known in Hell?

But am I? I fear not. I would be so thrilled if I thought I had a reputation in Hell as one the demons feared. I’m sorry, but I doubt it. I’m not sure what more I can do to achieve this, but if I knew what it would take to achieve this I would do it at once.

John 5:44 – “How can you believe if you receive honor from one another and seek not the honor that comes from God only (or the only God)?” – has been the verse I tried to use to govern my life. It may be a bit presumptuous to say this, especially since I have come so short of this. I can only say I have made an effort to seek His honor above that of people. The older I get the less reputation in the world means to me. I would of course hate to have a bad reputation; I would hate to have a moral failure that eclipsed the good I may have done. But I so want the honor that comes only from God and I would have thought that a reputation in Hell might come close to that. I would have also thought that a “well done” at the Judgment Seat of Christ (2 Cor.5:10) might be guaranteed if on earth I had been a threat to Satan.

“The length of our days is . . . eighty, if we have the strength” – Psalm 90:10.

“Thus far has the Lord helped us” – 1 Samuel 7:12.

Dear Friends,

Well, I made it! I am 80 today.

I write to you today as a very thankful man. Now back in Nashville, I must say that recent months have been quite difficult – for two reasons. First, although our nearly six months in London’s Kensington Temple have been very fruitful and enjoyable (they have invited us back for 2016), I spent much of the time this year being very unwell. I had sinusitis that went into pneumonia and had to cancel meetings in India and Jordan. That said, I am now perfectly well and my Vanderbilt physician says I am able to continue traveling and preaching all over the world with no difficulty.

Second, two close friends have been taken to Heaven. John Paul Jackson has been snatched away suddenly and I am still trying to come to terms with his passing. I thought he and I were to have a ministry together. I was not prepared for his death. He was 15 years younger than I; I am the one who should have died first. Also, one of my oldest friends – Dale Martin, a Nazarene minister – died a few days ago. Eight days apart in age, we grew up together in Ashland, Kentucky.

I have looked forward to this birthday – doing nothing today but having Louise (my amazing wife of 57 years) at my side and enjoying Toby and Timothy our two grandsons along with T. R. and Annette, Melissa and Rex. For happiness on earth, it doesn’t get better than this. Thank you Lord.

However, there is another reason I have looked forward to this birthday. I will find out if I’m Moses! I hope so. God did not really use Moses until he was 80 (Exod.7:7), and I have wished that, just maybe, God has an important work for me to do at this stage of my life. We will see!

My book It Ain’t Over Till it’s Over – with an endorsement from Yogi Berra and several friends – has come out to coincide with my 80th birthday. Originally intended to focus on the goal of finishing well, this book was expanded to show the importance of not giving up! “It ain’t over till it’s over” when it comes to answered prayer, the hope of seeing people saved, seeing genuine Revival and experiencing one’s utmost dreams this side of going to Heaven.

Thank you for your love and prayers. These mean more to us than anything else.

Best-selling author, speaker and the former leader of London’s Westminster Chapel, RT Kendall celebrates his 80th birthday this summer. Premier Christianity magazine asked him to pen an open letter to the UK Church.

To my dear brothers and sisters in the UK Church, I must be one of the most fortunate Americans ever to live in Britain. You have given me my ministry, my identity and some of my all-time best friends. It is here I began to appreciate irony, subtlety and understatement. I cannot adequately express the sense of gratitude I feel toward you all. What is especially encouraging for me is meeting an ever-increasing number of church leaders, many of them young, who have a genuine thirst for God. This speaks well for tomorrow’s generation.

It is to tomorrow’s generation I share some things on my heart.

Don’t water down the message

Firstly, the priority of the gospel. My greatest hope for British evangelicals is that the gospel will never be taken for granted. I have been thrilled to learn how many church leaders and many evangelists have the same concern. The gospel is always under siege, particularly at a theological level. The enemy will always seek to rob the gospel of both its stigma and power. I applaud those who affirm Paul’s teaching of the blood of Christ propitiating the justice of God. Our calling is not to make the gospel palatable but to tell it as it is, and this includes the unpalatable truth about God’s wrath and the judgement to come.

We all want people to become Christians. But why? To make them nicer people to live with? To cause them to be materially better off? Or to live longer? Paul said that if ‘in this life only’ we have hope in Christ we are to be pitied (1 Cor 15:19). Why should we long for people to become Christians? It is because of the wrath of God. The earliest message of the New Testament was to ‘flee’ from the wrath to come. The Bible in a nutshell is this: God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son that we should ‘not perish’ but have eternal life (John 3:16).

I’d rather be known in hell than admired in the world

I love to visit the Holy Land to be where Jesus did miraculous things. I also love to visit places where the Holy Spirit did extraordinary things. At least four times I have stood and meditated on a vacant lot in Enfield, Connecticut where on 8th July 1741, Jonathan Edwards preached his historic sermon ‘Sinners in the hands of an angry God’. So great was God’s power that people literally held on to pews in the church and to tree trunks outside to keep from slipping into hell.

Affirm the whole of scripture

Secondly, I affirm the God of the Old Testament. I am always amazed and reassured that Jesus never apologised for the God of the Old Testament – his father! This includes being unashamed of the Genesis account of creation, especially: ‘So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them’ [Genesis 1:27, NIV 1984, italics mine]. The modern redefinition of marriage reflects a disdain for God’s plan in making us male and female. I thank God for those who have resisted this trend, and hold to a biblical definition of traditional marriage.

References to the inspiration of scripture in the New Testament include the 39 books of the Old Testament. If we affirm the New Testament it means we affirm the Old Testament too. I accept there are things in the Old Testament that are hard to swallow. Yes. But this is true with the New Testament too. Part of bearing the stigma for Christ is the willingness to look like fools in the eyes the world.

Remarry the word and the spirit

Thirdly, the word and the spirit will come together as it did in the book of Acts. There is a growing conviction that a remarriage between the word and the spirit is God’s way. I say this because those truly open to the person and work of the Holy Spirit in the operation of spiritual gifts are now in the majority among evangelicals in the UK. Sadly for me, this is not the case in the United States.

We will not win people over by theological argument alone

By word I mean the centrality of the gospel. By spirit I mean signs, wonders and miracles. I believe that it will mean a spontaneous combustion of power and authority for the Church and a wake-up call to the nation. Never forget that John Newton, famous for his hymn ‘Amazing Grace’, was the impetus behind William Wilberforce, who brought incalculable social change to the world. While we wait for this nation-changing awakening, we may thank God for encouraging signs now.

We need the spirit of Christ in us

Fourthly, our very lives must make the world want what we have. Arthur Blessitt was given an open door in Amman when an Arab sheikh noticed him across a restaurant. The sheikh said, ‘I want what you’ve got.’ There was something

about Arthur’s countenance that gripped this Arab. Arthur led him to Christ. We will not win people over by theological argument alone but by a different spirit in us than is in the world.

What will win the world will not come about by the keenest intellect humiliating an opponent but by the most transparently Christ-like person melting hearts. When Paul determined to know nothing among the Corinthians but Jesus Christ and him ‘crucified’ [1 Corinthians 2:2], it was his commitment both to the objective gospel of the cross but also subjectively to the manner of life he proposed to live before those who had never heard the gospel.

Part of bearing the stigma for Christ is the willingness to look like fools in the eyes the world

Who are you impacting?

My old mentor Rolfe Barnard preached a sermon called ‘The man who was known in hell’. It was based upon the incident in Acts when a demon said, ‘Jesus I know, and I know about Paul, but who are you?’ (19:15 [NIV]). Rolfe pointed out that it was Jesus and Paul – and not the man trying to cast out demons – who had a reputation in hell. That sermon influenced me deeply when I was young, helping me to aspire to be a threat to the devil. If I had to choose I’d rather be known in hell than admired in the world.

Robert Murray M’Cheyne saw a true touch of revival in Scotland. Six months after he died in 1843 a young minister travelled to St Peter’s Church, Dundee to inquire what M’Cheyne’s secret had been. An old elder took the young

preacher to M’Cheyne’s desk, saying to him: ‘Put your elbows on the desk and place your forehead in your hands, and let the tears flow.’ The elder then took the young man to M’Cheyne’s pulpit, telling him: ‘Now put your elbows on the pulpit and place your forehead in your hands, and let the tears flow.’ M’Cheyne had a passion for the lost. May God grant us a fresh passion for the unsaved who are in danger of the wrath to come.

After M’Cheyne died, a letter addressed to him was found in his coat pocket. It was written by a man who had heard him preach the previous Sunday. In it he wrote that he came to the church unconverted, but the sight of M’Cheyne’s face – not the sermon itself – so gripped this man that he could not help himself – and was instantly saved.

We need to make a greater impact on our generation and on generations to come.

‘T’was not the truth you taught, to you so clear, to me so dim;

But when you came to me you brought a sense of Him.

Yes, from your eyes He beckoned me, from your heart His love was shed;

When I lost sight of you and saw the Christ instead.’

(Anon)

Dear brothers and sisters, Jesus loves the Church. He loves the UK. So stay strong in the work God has called you to and never be ashamed of the gospel. Proclaim it with power and truth. May the grace of our Lord Jesus

Christ, through the sprinkling of his blood by the Holy Spirit, be with you all evermore.

Prophetic Responsibility

Many of us claim to speak for God these days, but how many of us really do speak for God? There are a lot of people who claim to have a prophetic gift and give out words introduced by “the Lord told me…” There are countless others who would not appear to be prophetic but nonetheless claim they hear directly from the Lord. Perhaps they do.

I do believe God speaks directly to people today. To uphold this premise is not to add to Scripture. When God spoke to Philip as He did (Acts 8:29) or to Agabus (Acts 11:28), this is not adding to Scripture. Paul posed the possibility of God making things clear to us in a direct manner (Phil.3:15).

Speaking personally, I live to hear directly from God. I will take any word from Him I can get – however He might be pleased to send it – whether via Scripture, another person’s insights, a hymn or even an audible voice. Yes, an audible voice; not that you could hear it if you were in the same room, but clearly audible to me. I live for insight – thoughts and interpretations of God’s word that I’d never seen before. I am in my highest realm of ecstasy when this happens.

The question is, how much are we to share with others when we hear from God? Are we to claim “the Lord told me” when we have an impression we feel is from the Holy Spirit? The question is: how many of these words or feelings are really from the Lord? Should it bother us that so many words do not come to pass which were prefaced by “the Lord told me”? What do you suppose God in Heaven thinks of all this?

Why is this issue important?

Why is this particular blog important? When a word does not come to pass which was introduced by “the Lord told me”, obviously something has gone wrong. It dishonors the Name of the Lord. It brings discredit upon the gift of prophecy.

Should we not apologize? Surely if the Lord says something it is going to be exactly right. But why do people continue using the phrase “the Lord told me” when they keep getting it wrong? And yet God does sometimes truly speak to us? If so, should we not attribute such a word to Him? Or say it differently? Is there a right time for saying “the Lord told me” when one has a word they feel is truly from God?

Is it not an encouragement when a prophetic person who has a solid reputation says “the Lord told me to tell you this”? Certainly. But what are we to believe if that word does not come to pass? Does it mean the person who made the claim is a false prophet? Not necessarily. Luke portrays Agabus as a true prophet in Acts 11:28 and yet an objective scrutiny of Agabus’s word in Acts 21:11 will lead you to ask, “Is that really what happened?” Not really. Does that mean Agabus was a false prophet? No. But Agabus said, “The Holy Spirit says”. Did He? The subsequent events were not exactly the way Agabus predicted. Luke simply states what Agabus says.

I will come clean. Although I do not claim to have a prophetic gift I have made this mistake a thousand times, e.g. saying, “The Lord told me”, or “the Lord gave me this sermon” etc. There have been times it may truly have been from the Lord, and yet to say “the Lord gave me this sermon” does not mean that every word in it is like Scripture!

Six levels of prophecy

Prophecy – if it is true prophecy – is a word directly from God unfiltered by human embellishment whether it pertains to the past, present or future. But there are levels of prophecy. Not all prophecy is of the same caliber. There are levels of prophecy – as in a pyramid, starting from the bottom:

General exhortation (encouragement) as to a congregation. Dr. Michael Eaton calls this “low level prophecy”. The kind of prophecy Paul encouraged was of this sort; he was not motivating someone to become an another Elijah. Someone may have a “word” – whether from a hymn, dream or even a vision. But such a word needs to be tested. We are not to despise such prophesying (1 Thess.5:20). But all needs to be tested. In any case, as I will attempt to show below, one should not say “the Lord told me”. He or she may feel it is from the Lord, but there is no need to add “the Lord told me”. I urge: do not claim that all you feel is from the Lord. You can always say, “I think I am supposed to share this with you”. No harm done this way.

Specific warnings. Certain disciples urged Paul not to go on to Jerusalem. Luke sides with them; he says they warned Paul “through the Spirit” (Acts 21:4). Agabus similarly warned Paul, saying “the Holy Spirit says” (Acts 21:11). And yet Paul refused to heed their warning. Who got it right? Was Paul wrong to ignore them? Agabus may have been wrong; Paul may have been wrong. But it did not seem to bother Paul in any case for he went to Jerusalem anyway.

Prophetic preaching. Peter said one should speak as if his words were the “very words of God” (“oracles” – KJV – 1 Pet.4:11). This is what I wish would be the case in my own preaching. My basic style is expository and pastoral. But nothing thrills me more than when someone says to me, “How did you know I was there today? That is exactly what I needed”. Expository preaching can be prophetic without the preacher being conscious of this. Even if he is conscious of the Lord’s enabling, he should be humble about it and not say “thus says the Lord”. I will return to this below.

When forced to testify during persecution. Jesus said, “When they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will ve given what to say, for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you” (Matt.10:19-20).

Non-canonicalprophecy. Nathan, Gad, Elijah and Elisha are examples of non-canonical prophets. Could there be prophets of this magnitude and stature today? I believe so. Then can they say “the Lord told me”? I reply: they should be the most wary of all in saying things like “the Lord says”. Why? It is because they will be watched and examined with the most painful scrutiny. If they will keep the Name of the Lord out – but simply say “I feel I must say this to you” (or something like that), they will maintain their integrity, credibility and anointing. Many a modern prophet could be saved incalculable embarrassment had they been more modest in their claims.

Holy Scripture. This includes all of the Old Testament – with the canonical prophets – and all of the New Testament. Scripture is God’s final revelation. No one will ever have authority to speak like this. If any man or woman claims to speak on the same level as Holy Scripture they are utterly out of order and will be found out sooner or later.

Limits of prophecy

There are several scriptures most relevant here. First, remember that each of us has but a “measure of faith” (Rom.12:3). This means there is a limit to our faith. Only Jesus had a perfect faith because He alone had the Holy Spirit without limit (John 4:34). Second, for those who prophesy it must be done in two ways: (a) in “proportion” to their faith (Rom.12:6) – not going beyond the anointing – and (b) according to the analogy of faith. The Greek word translated “proportion” is analogia. This means comparing scripture with scripture, making sure you are within the bounds of sound theology! Third, remember that prophecies will cease (1 Cor.13:8-9). This means there are seasons of the prophetic. The word of the Lord was “rare” at one time in ancient Israel (1 Sam.3:1). Amos spoke of a famine of hearing the word of the Lord (Amos 8:11). This means that sometimes God chooses to say nothing. God may choose not to speak for a generation. If so, how foolish to pretend to speak for Him. Rare is that prophetic person who will refuse to be drawn out to give a “word” when there is not clearly such a word! A common mistake of many prophetic people is that they have some form of “spiritual experience” and get a true word from God but then embellish it with personal exhortation or theological teaching based on their own experience to justify the spin which may or may not be from God. Fourth, Paul said that we know in part and we prophecy in part. This means nobody knows everything and no prophet has unlimited knowledge.

Protocol or Guidelines of Prophecy

There are certain principles we must follow if maintain transparent integrity. First, don’t go beyond what is given. This is much the same thing as “Do not go beyond what is written” (1 Cor.4:6). So too with a prophetic word; do not embellish it.

Second, be very, very careful to honor the Name of the Lord. I come now to the most sober part of this blog. What I share now is already in print in two places: my exposition Sermon on the Mount (Matt.5:33-37) and my exposition of James, The Way of Wisdom (James 5:12).

Honor the THIRD COMMANDMENT: “Do not take the Name of the Lord your God in vain” – ESV (“Do not misuse the name of the Lord your God” – NIV)

Jesus gave His interpretation of the Law in the Sermon on the Mount. First, regarding the 6th Command: murder – Matt.5:21ff. Second, the 7th Command: adultery – Matt.5:27ff. And then the 3rd Command: on the Name of the Lord – Matt.5:33-37. James quoted Jesus in James 5:12 “Above all, brothers, do not swear – not by heaven or by earth or by anything else,. Let your “Yes” be yes, and your “No”, no, or you will be condemned”. Here James addressed those workers in the field who had been mistreated by wealthy believers. The temptation for poor laborers in the fields was to say “God is on our side and against you”. James thunders a warning against taking sides and using God’s Name. It is the worst form of “name-dropping”, that is, using God’s Name to make yourself look good.

Misusing God’s Name is when you bring Him into your conversation to elevate your own credibility. You are thinking of yourself, not Him. Perhaps you want people to think you are so spiritual? SO close to God?

I have done this too often over the years – I am ashamed to say. I have sought to stop it. I believe I am to share this to everybody in these last days. Did the LORD tell me to share this? You tell me.

The issue here is the oath. One of the greatest privileges a Christian can have is for God to swear an oath to them like He did to Abraham. The Oath is seen when God grants the highest level of faith; this is what lay behind the miraculous in the Bible. If granted the oath from God to us may pertain to (1) assurance of salvation (Heb.4:10; 10:22); (2) advanced notice of answered prayer (Mark 11:24; 1 John 5:15); (3) knowing you have got it right theologically (Col.2:2); (4) the prayer of faith for healing. (Jas.5:15 – ESV) and (5) a prophetic word.

All prophecy must be done in proportion to our faith; it is only when the oath is given to us that we know infallibly we have been given a word from God. This is what lay behind Elijah’s authority. As I show in These are the Days of Elijah, Elijah had authority before Ahab because of God’s oath to him. It is only when God swears an oath to you can you have the kind of authority that Elijah had before Ahab. Elijah did not bite his nails for the next several years if he saw a cloud in the sky. He calmly said to the king, “It won’t rain unless I say so”. How could Elijah be so sure? “As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word” (1 Kings 17:1). That is oath language.

Any prophecy should make GOD look “good” not the prophet. If you say “thus saith the Lord” you must know what you are claiming: namely, God has sworn an oath to you. When Elijah said, “As the Lord the God of Israel lives”, it meant God swore an oath to him. If therefore you say “the Lord told me”, you had better get it right; otherwise you are abusing His Name.

Let’s be honest. Why would I say to you, “The Lord told me”? Am I trying to make GOD look God? Sorry. I am trying to make myself look good – or, at least, I am hoping you will believe what I say since it is from “the Lord”.

Question: what if the Lord really DID give you a word? Good. I am thrilled for you. But do you need to tell it to me? What would be your motive in saying the LORD gave you this word? To make Him look good? Or to make YOU look good?

If you say “my motive is to encourage people”, I believe you. But what if that word does not come true? How often will you get away with this repeated claim “the Lord says”?

Loving caution: keep God’s Name out unless you would go to the stake for what you are claiming.

You can always say, “I feel I should share this word with you”. If the word is truly from God, it will be recognized in due course; no need to rush it!

I am not saying you should never say “the Lord told me” or “Thus says the Lord”. I am urging you never to say it unless you have that oath level assurance that God has spoken. If you would not go to the stake for the truth of what you are saying, simply leave the Lord’s name out and say, “I am compelled to share this with you”. You are safe if the word is not from above. You will not be embarrassed and you will not have abused God’s Name.

Remember, James said, “Above all” do not misuse the Lord’s Name or “you will be condemned”. Misusing His Name isn’t worth it.